The result keeps Michael Ellison’s team in a hunt for a play-off position in the Northern Premier League West, sitting just two points behind fifth-placed Witton Albion with three games left to play.

After going 2-0 up through James Steele and a Sean Miller penalty, late second half goals from Steele and substitute Sharif Deans were required to seal the points.

Cables had pulled level less than 60 seconds into the second half thanks to James Foley and Kyle Sambor but a late surge lifted Widnes to a third successive win.

Manager Ellison made four changes to the side that had beaten Vauxhall Motors last time out 11 days previously.

Lewis Coulton, Will Bell, Miller and Steele all earned recalls with Brendan O’Brien, Niall Battersby and Matty Rain dropping to the bench, while Ste Milne has emigrated to Australia.

There was place on the bench for Deans too – in line for a second Widnes debut after returning to the club last month.

It was a cagey affair in the opening exchanges, with little to separate the two sides in this local derby with plenty of high stakes.

Prescot’s Franny Smith hit a swerving effort that was gratefully caught by Cameron Terry, while Ste Irwin hit a long-range strike straight down the throat of visiting goalkeeper Mitch Allen.

Jack McGowan then hit a half-volley into the side-netting for Widnes moments before Jack Goodwin struck over for Cables.

Widnes took the lead after 28 minutes.

Fisnik Hajdari unlocked the Prescot backline with an incisive pass and Steele did the rest, surging into the area before finishing delightfully beyond Allen.

Ellison’s men had drawn first blood and they were afforded a golden opportunity to extend their lead 10 minutes later.

Steele’s shot was charged down in the area by Goodwin who was adjudged to have handled the ball by referee Abid Hussain despite few appeals from Widnes players and to the confusion of most of the 601 in attendance.

Miller made no mistake with the spot-kick though, sending Allen the wrong way to notch his 10th goal of the campaign.
Prescot were awarded a penalty of their own just three minutes later for virtually an exact same offence with Widnes defender Will Bell penalised for handball when attemping to block a shot.

Cables skipper Foley successfully converted from 12 yards to make it 2-1 and all of a sudden, this local derby had exploded into life.

The visitors were afforded a lifeline with their first real sight of goal and Ste Daley’s side would make the best possible start to the second half.

46 minutes remained on the clock when Widnes gifted their opposition an equaliser, despite strong suspicions of a foul on keeper Terry.

The Widnes shot stopper had two hands on a long looping ball forward when he was challenged by Sambor, dropping the ball as he landed, before clawing it straight to the Prescot forward who scored the easiest goal he is ever likely to score.

This gave Cables a lift, who were level from virtually nothing and shellshocked Widnes, who needed to muster a response.

Both teams were wasteful in possession as neither looked interested in settling for a point, with the Whites needing a win to keep their play-offs dream alive.

A win for second-placed Prescot would have secured a top-five finish, and Smith really should have given his side the lead after 74 minutes, but he could only curl a glorious chance wide after some neat interplay in the build-up.

Widnes then went close with goalkeeper Allen producing a strong glove to push a Steele effort away to safety.

Steele wasn’t to be denied eight minutes from time.

Two Prescot players challenged for the same header in midfield which had their defence retreating as substitute Will Jones drove forward.

He held the ball up well for Deans, fresh off the bench, to drive the ball across the face of goal where Steele was able to fashion half a yard finish brilliantly into the far corner.

That was Steele’s 17th goal of the season – the best return of his career.

And Deans added a fourth two minutes from time with a fine solo effort.

He isolated and chopped inside Alex McNally on the flank from Steele’s hooked ball forward and glided past the challenge of Nathan Koehler before firing through the legs to seal all three points for Widnes.

The victory lifts the Whites to sixth in the table, two points behind fifth-placed Witton Albion with a significantly better goal difference.

Widnes head to Kidsgrove Athletic on Tuesday for what is ultimately a game in-hand after Witton travel to Trafford on Saturday.